The One Who Stays
by Kittiko-Blues
Summary: All he wanted was for her to wait for him, just one more time. Oneshot.


_**My God, I've been working on this FOREVER. :P And thank you Lyrical Ballads and Brunette with pushing me to get my arse into gear in posting this. ;)**_

_**Oneshot expanding a little on my OC Gracie. Consistent with her brief mentions in my other fics. I didn't want to make this overly long, but at the same I didn't want it to feel too rushed either. :P It wasn't easy writing this, since Daniels's romantic preferences, his lifestyle choices and reasons for leaving the country aren't exactly set in stone. I also drew on some real life experiences to help me write this. In a way, I am trying to root out a possible explanation that makes the most sense to me for why the Americans leave the country in the first place as well. Pre-movie, before the Americans go overseas. Does contain a tiny bit of, dare I say it, FLUFF.**_

_**Daniels/The Mummy: (c) Stephen Sommers**_

_**Grace Murphy is of my own imagination**_

**The One Who Stays**

_Outside San Antonio, TX, Early 1926_

The scent of whiskey-laced coffee and cigarettes clung to the air around him, typical for just about every morning around eight o'clock in his home. He would have to smoke the damn things quickly though, knew that she hated cigarettes and every known form of tobacco there was. He sighed gloomily, dragged heavily on his last one and snuffed it in the ashtray. As he got up to empty it outside, he heard the faint shuffling behind him, felt the scolding eyes on his back. "Didn't think you'd be up this early," he said, feigning guilt.

"Oh David, you know I hate those awful things. I know it's your place, but can't you please smoke outside?" Her voice was scratchy, hoarse. Clearly she had just woken up.

"Ya already answered your own question, honey." He heard her huff, and he turned around to face her. She was standing there under the arching entrance to the kitchen, draped in her peach-colored nightgown. Her ash-blonde hair fell wildly about her face, framing the rosy arcs of her cheeks. He suddenly caught himself grinning. Even with her irritated expression and unkempt presentation, she was still just as beautiful as ever.

"Anyway, you promised to try to cut back on lighting up," she went on.

He raised a cynical eyebrow. "Baby, I promised you a lot a' things when I put that damn rock on yer finger."

Her exhausted face seemed to brighten, a small giggle escaping her mouth as she twirled the single-diamond band around her finger. She sauntered over to him, wrapped her arms around his neck. "To ensure that you keep your word," she said quietly, touching her lips to his.

Daniels smirked, his hands on the hips of her hour-glass figure. "Man of my word."

There were plenty of women he had fooled around with and never gave a second thought about afterword. They were all the same: expendable, dime-a-dozen hussies with lots of rouge and zero propriety. At first she was just another twenty-something filly he had seen about town on many occasions. It was only by coincidence that she was also a cordial acquaintance of Henderson's girlfriend Cora, and a chance encounter with her while they were all out one night had them both finally formally introduced. But after spending a considerable amount of time with her, he realized there was one thing about Grace Louise Murphy that set her apart from the others: he had truly fallen in love with her. And now, she was his fiancée.

Monogamy wasn't even in his agenda until she came into his life, and after that, there was no other woman that could hold his attention longer than she did. She was sweet, colorful, full of optimism and was absolutely smitten with him. She had a strong sense of morality, rarely used expletives and preferred wearing dresses that concealed her thighs. She was the complete opposite of him, a good girl attracted to a bad boy, and maybe that was what drew him to her.

The delighted smirk on his face began to fade though, and the gloom settled over him again. _Well, it's now or never..._ He inhaled deeply, closed his eyes. The words left his mouth in barely a whisper. "Gracie, I'm leavin'."

Broken out of the blissful state she was in, Grace gave him a bewildered look, leaning away from the grip he had on her hips. "Leaving? Where are you going?"

"Somewhere 'cross the Atlantic. The three of us, me, Burns an' Henderson. Tomorrow night."

She looked deeply taken aback. "Why?"

He let go of her, plodded over to the kitchen table and sat down heavily. "You know why, Grace. It's a man's business."

She angled her head in dismay. "No, I don't know why! What business? Couldn't you take me with you? I don't want to be here all by myself again, especially if you're leaving the country!"

"I don't want you stickin' your nose in my affairs, you know that." He leaned back in his seat, pinched the bridge of his nose exasperatedly_. Tell her the Goddamn truth._ "We're jus' damn sick a' Prohibition an' all the trouble surroundin' it. There ain't no room to breathe."

Grace furrowed her brow disappointedly, sitting down across from him. "Well yes, I certainly don't want to become part of your affair with the bottle."

He sensed the bitterness in her tone. She understandably had always been less than enthusiastic about his involvement with counterfeit liquor (in fact, she downright hated it), but it hadn't discouraged her yet from continuing her relationship with him. "It's just fer a little bit. I have every intention a' comin' back an' makin' an honest woman outta ya."

She folded her arms stiffly, looked away from him. "You're going half way around the world to get drunk without being thrown in jail for it. I hardly call that honest." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "So what am I to do while you're gone, _again_?"

Daniels felt his patience thinning, but he knew she had a right to be upset. "If ya really don't wanna be alone, go back to Huntsville with your folks fer a bit. I'm sure they miss you."

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here," she said peevishly, her arms still crossed tightly over her chest. "Perhaps if you had given me more than a day's notice, I would've considered that."

She did have a point; he had all the time in the world and he chose to tell her now. "Alright then, fine," Daniels muttered indifferently, looking away from her.

She startled him by standing abruptly, her foot coming down with an audible _thump_ on the floor. "When are you ever going to get out of bootlegging? How many more times will you postpone our nuptials because you have to leave to get in on another deal? I'm tired of waiting and I'm tired of being second in your heart. You love your precious rotgut more than you love your own fiancée!"

Sometimes Grace couldn't quite believe she fell for the man. He embodied what most fathers were absolutely loath to leave their daughters in the company of, but she couldn't stay away from him. She was transfixed by his darkly handsome face, made even more attractive by his deep blue eyes, short, charcoal mane and rugged Western appearance. His element was clearly alcohol, frequenting speakeasies and underground bars. She couldn't stand it at first, but the more he spoke to and groomed her with that gravelly but smooth voice of his, the more irresistible he became. Irresistible, even with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a cigar in the other.

"C'mon now, Gracie. You know that ain't true. This is no different than all the other times I left," he said as calmly as he could.

"You're not going to the county over, David! You're leaving the damn country! I wasn't born yesterday! That's a _big_ difference!" She stopped momentarily, caught her breath. She was not out of steam yet though, leveling an accusatory glare on him. "You better not be philandering around with some harlot behind my back either, using this as a smokescreen for your indiscretions. You told me your days of sleeping around were over!"

Daniels's head snapped up, his eyes narrowing into dark slits, surprised that she had decided to play that card. The lady's man reputation that followed him wherever he went ground to a halt the night he started courting Grace, shunning every woman (no matter what they were offering him) who threw themselves at him after that. It was love, not infatuation or blind lust, that made Daniels feel that way.

"They _are _over! I prefer a red-blooded American woman over a European floozy any day," he said gruffly, placing one hand on his hip. He felt the heat of his temper rising slightly. "Besides, who I screwed before that ain't none of yer business anyways. Christ woman, I thought we went over that already."

"Then why do I feel like you're hiding something from me? You know a woman's intuition is never wrong, don't you?"

"You're hurtin' me, Grace. You really are breakin' my heart."

"I'm hurting _you_? Don't you know how much you're hurting _me_?"she said almost hysterically, berating him with a sudden paranoid panic in her voice. "You're in trouble with someone, aren't you? Is that why you're skipping out of the country? Who did you piss off this time? If they come here looking for you and they find _me_ instead-"

"Grace! _Enough_!" The thunderous boom that erupted from deep in his chest shook her into stunned silence. "Goddamnit, I tol' you why we're goin'! No one's after me an' no one's comin' fer you. Ya think I'm that stupid, tellin' every rye-soaked degenerate I come across where I live an' who I'm seein'? Jesus." He stopped, took in a deep breath. "Nothin' is gonna change my mind about leavin', Grace. When the sun goes down behind the hills, I'll be gone."

Grace folded her arms again, still silent, looked down at the ring on her finger. Daniels thought he heard her sniffling. "You know, Dave, you're right. You did promise me a lot of things when you gave me this ring. The one promise you haven't kept yet is actually marrying me." She brought her eyes back up to him, the crystalline blue of her irises shattered by glassy tears. Her voice dropped to a barely audible degree. "It's been over two years. How do I know you really want me if you won't prove it to me?"

He paused, swallowed against his dry throat, felt his blood cooling. He knew that his words were hurting her deeply, and he felt the swell in his self-righteousness receding. She had turned his back to him, but he placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "Of course I want you, I _love_ you. I wouldn't have asked ya to spend the rest a' yer life with me if I didn't mean it. I don't drag you into any a' this because I don't want ya involved in any of it. I jus' make my money an' come home, that's all. But it ain't that easy anymore. All we want is a lil' relief. Who the hells knows, maybe there's bigger an' better things waitin' out there fer us. Just give us some time, alright?"

Grace shook her head. "I just wish you had a more honest way to make your money, one that won't put you in prison and spook you into fleeing the country."

He shrugged helplessly. "It's the life I chose to live, Gracie." He closed his eyes, felt the annoying tug at his conscience. "But...it's not the life I want fer _you_. The day I marry you will be my last day in the business."

She turned around to look at him right in the eye, and the longing gaze that she held on him felt like a ten ton weight crushing his heart. "Do you mean that?"

"I do."

She nodded weakly, her breath coming in shakily. The pain in her eyes was raw and real. "I just don't know what I'm going to do without you, that's all."

Daniels leaned in, took her hands in his gently. "You just be good an' wait for me. Can you do that?" She couldn't answer him, her lips locked together tightly. Convincing her was not easy, even though he was telling her the truth. "I _always_ come back, you know that."

She lost the battle with her tear ducts, liquid seeping uncontrollably from her eyes. But he could also see the crack in her face where the hint of a smile was forming. "Yes, baby. I know." She pushed herself into him, his arms locked around her tightly as her head fell against his chest. She felt the raspy pull of his lungs, the steady thump of his heart filling her ears; a strangely wonderful comfort to her. "I know..."

Daniels couldn't help but feel the nagging pull of guilt. Such a beautiful creature with an even more beautiful soul deserved better than what he was currently giving her, and he knew it. She had given him so many chances, even though it killed her inside to do so. She certainly was a rose among thorns. He asked her quietly, not sure how she would answer, "Will you have me one more time, Gracie? So you know I have every intention a' comin' home?"

She peered up at him through the glistening enamels of her tear-laden eyes, and he saw the affection lighting up in them. "I want you every day of my life, David."

They spent the rest of the day making love after that, their bodies entwined in the tangled bed sheets, her trembling frame leaning into the strong circle of his arms. He took in every touch, admired every square inch of her ivory skin. He could barely catch his breath, certain that she could feel the hard pounding of his heart against her own chest. Those words she whispered to him, words he could taste on her poppy-colored lips, stayed with him.

"I'll wait for you. I'll always wait for you," she whispered, placing her hands on his face and pressing her forehead to his.

He leaned in and kissed her deeply. "That's all I'm askin' of you. Nothin' more."

No woman before had stirred his heart more than she did. Knowing that she was that committed to him, even after all the grief he put her through, was an amazing thing to him. Once he felt like just another hooker's payday; now he felt like the masculine figure most women would only find in their dreams. Having the exclusive devotion of one woman was no longer foreign to him. Grace made it the most wonderful feeling in the world.

The following day was wrought with mundane routine but with an added painful silence, the communication between them not entirely broken but understandably at a disconnect. That evening, as Daniels had told her, it was nearly dusk when Daniels began throwing his stuff together to leave. All she could do was watch him sullenly, tried out as many stall tactics as possible to keep him in the house just a little longer. She truly did not want him to go. But his mind was made up, and when David J. Daniels's mind was made up, there was no changing it. _Not even I can._ She went and stood by the porch door, stared silently at the floor.

Daniels found her there, dropping his bag and hat on the floor and leaning against the door frame. When she finally looked up at him, she took his hand and placed something in his hands. It was a small photograph of herself. "So you don't forget me," she said in a barely audible tone.

Daniels studied the picture for a moment, placed it carefully in his back pocket. Then he took her hands in his tightly, kept his steel-blue gaze on her. "I _will_ be back, Grace. I promise," he said, bringing her hands to his mouth and kissing them. "I love you."

She nodded sadly, her frame trembling as she fought to hold in her urge to weep. "I love you too."

Her fingers broke the lock on his hands, and she watched him open the porch screen door. She pressed her palms into the cold wire mesh as it closed, hearing the thump of his boots going down the porch stairs. He gave her one last parting look, putting his Stetson on his head and throwing the bag over his shoulder. "Goodbye, Gracie."

She shook as she watched him get in his truck, its engine the final sound ringing in her ears as it disappeared into the night. She held it in no longer, the sobs racking her body as she sunk down to her knees.

"Goodbye, David."


End file.
